| Abstract/Notes |
Some tend to believe everything they hear, see, or feel, while others are of a more skeptical, questioning bent. This seeming dichotomy between the empiricist and the rationalist forms the basis for our view of epistemology in chiropractic. Why chiropractic has attracted many of the former to its ranks is a question best left to sociologists and anthropologists, but until the average doctor of chiropractic advocates attitudes of skepticism and rationalism, plus the application of science to her or his practice (i.e., evidence-based chiropractic, EBC), the best interests of our patients and society will not be well served.
The term "evidence based medicine" (EBM; no hyphen) apparently was coined at McMaster Medical School in Canada in the 1980s. One definition is "the process of systematically finding, appraising, and using contemporaneous research findings as the basis for clinical decisions." In the chiropractic setting, we might term evidence-based chiropractic (EBC) as the process of asking questions, finding and appraising relevant data, and using that information in everyday clinical practice. There are at least 4 steps associated with this process: 1) create a focused clinical question regarding a patient's problem, 2) search the medical and chiropractic literature for relevant clinical articles, 3) critically review the evidence for its validity and usefulness, and 4) apply the findings in chiropractic practice. This abstract is reproduced with permission of the publisher. Full text is available by subscription. |
